Replaceable shoulder pad for garments



Feb. 14, 1950 B. M. WEBER REPLACEABLE SHOULDER PAD FOR GARMENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 12, 1947 Feb 14, 1950 B. M; WEBER 2,497,382

REPLACEABLE SHOULDER PAD FOR GARMENTS Filed Feb. 12, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Zlwucmtom BO/V/V/E M. WEBER,

Patented Feb. 14, 1950 REPLACEABLE SHOULDER PAD FOR GARMENTS Bonnie M. Weber, San Leandro, Calif.

Application February 12, 1947, Serial No. 728,163

Claims. (Cl. 2268) The present invention relates to replaceable shoulder pads for garments, such as for example, womens and misses coats, dresses and suits, and aims generally to improve the construction of the shoulder pad as well as the attaching means for replaceably securing the pad to a garment.

One of the primary objects of the invention is the provision of an improved attaching means for shoulder pads composed of a plurality of tapes adapted to be basted or otherwise stitched to the inside of a garment along and underlying the shoulder and sleeve seams thereof and provided with snap fastener elements adapted to detachably engage cooperating snap fastener elements on a removable shoulder pad.

A further object of the invention is to improve the construction of attaching tapes for detachable snap fastener engagement with a shoulder pad whereby the pad may be applied and removed from a garment of lightweight material without danger of tearing or damaging the garment material.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an improved construction of shoulder pad that may be readily and economically manufactured according to mass production methods, and having snap fastener elements attached thereto and which will accurately fit attaching tapes or harnesses attached to a garment along the shoulder and upper sleeve seams thereof to insure a smooth-fitting shoulder line and a hand tailored appearance of the garment.

The above and other objects of the invention will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art to which the invention relates from a consideration of the accompanying drawings and annexed specification illustrating and describing preferred forms of the invention.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a phantom perspective of a fragmental shoulder portion of a garment illustrating the manner of securing the shoulder pad attaching means thereto;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional View of a garment fitted with a shoulder pad attaching Fig. 6 is a detail transverse sectional view as taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2;

Fig. '7 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 'l--'I of Fig. 3, illustrating the terminal end construction of the harness tapes;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the shoulder pad per se;

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view as taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a shoulder pad and attaching means according to a modified form of the invention in which a part of the attaching means is secured along and underlies the shoulder seam of a garment;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a further modified form of attaching means; and

Fig. 12 is a vertical sectional view of the attaching means shown in Fig. 11 as taken on the line I2-I2 thereof.

Referring to the drawings, the removable shoulder pad I0 is adapted to be secured within a garment I by means of an attaching means 20 having snap fastener engagement with the pad III. The attaching means 20 is preferably secured to the inner face of the garment along the shoulder seams 2 and upper sleeve seam 3 thereof.

The shoulder pad II] preferably is formed of a plurality of generally triangular shaped pieces of textile fabric, providing opposed fastener supporting face II and a backing face I2 adapted to be secured together along their base edges by a gusset member I3 to provide the necessary thickness to the pad at the end of the shoulder.

The fastener supporting face may be composed of a plurality of layers of textile fabric which may be a stiffening piece II of crinoline, buckram or the like to give permanence of shape to the pad. The outer face II is preferably provided with snap fastener engaging elements I4, for example, snap fastener stud members having base portions I l on opposite sides of the face II gripping the material thereof to firmly secure the fastener members to the face I I.

These fastener elements are secured to the face I I inwardly from the marginal edges, there being one located within each base triangle I I and two located along a perpendicular base bisector II as shown in Fig. 6.

The component parts of the pad including the face pieces I I and I2 and the gusset I3 are assembled 0n the base edges of the faces II and I2, being connected to the gusset I3 by inturned seams I5 (Fig. 7) after which the pad is filled with padding or stuffing I6 of suitable material, for example cotton.

The side edges of the faces I I and [2 are there-.

upon secured together as by one or more rows of stitching I! (Fig. 6) and preferably this stitching is spaced substantially inwardly of the marginal side edges of the faces I l and [2 to provide flexible handle portions it along the side edges for the purpose hereinafter described.

The attaching means or harness 20 for the pad generally comprises a fabric support adapted to be basted or stitched to the garment l at least at the shoulder seam 2 and at portions of the upper armhole seam 3, and which harness is provided with snap fastener members complementary to the fastener element of the pad and adapted for snap fastener engagement therewith.

The attaching means or harness 20 shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive comprise substantially perpendicularly disposed tapes 2! and 22 connected to form a generally T-shaped attaching means or harness, the tape 2| forming the stem of the T being adapted for connection as by stitching 2! to the garment i, underlying shoulder seam 2, and the tape 22 forming the crosshead of the T being adapted for connection with the garment underlying the upper portion of the sleeve seam 3 as by stitching or basting 22 The ends of the tapes 2! and 22 are preferably inturned for a relatively short distance and are secured to the body of the tapes by fasteners 24, herein illustrated as socket fastener members, adapted for snap fastening engagement with the stud fastener members Ed on the pad It). The socket members include base portions 24 disposed on opposite sides of the tapes which grip and are attached to the doubled over tapes inwardly of the ends thereof, providing terminal end reinforced handle portions 25 at opposite ends of the tapes. As will be apparent from Fig. 3, the fastener member on the end of the tape 2| at the intersection of the tape 22 serves also as a means for permanently securing said tapes 2l-22 together in right angled relation.

In Fig. 10 there is illustrated a slightly modified form of attaching means or harness in which the tape 2| is intersected by a pair of right angularly disposed tapes E22 having fastener elements I24 similar to the fastener 2 above described. When this form of harness is employed, the triangular pad should be provided with a pair of similarly spaced fasteners I I4 symmetrically disposed within the apex angle of the pad H).

The attaching means or harness need not be constructed of fabric tapes as disclosed in Figs. 1 to 10, but may be formed of multiple textile fabric pieces QM--22! of generally triangular form as shown in Figs. 11 and 12. Such multiple pieces 22|-22I may be secured together by means of fastener members 224 similar to the fastener members 24, and these fasteners 224 are preferably positioned inwardly from the marginal edges of the pieces so as to provide outer double thickness handle portions 225. The fasteners are preferably located within the base angles of the triangular pieces and near opposite ends of a perpendicular bisector thereof as shown in Fig. 11, and will be suitable for snap fastening attachment with a pad l6 shown in Fig. 8.

From the above detailed description it will be apparent that the attaching means will be secured to the inside of the garment, being connected thereto at least at spaced points underlying the shoulder and upper sleeve seams and preferably at the juncture of these seams. The shoulder pads may be readily inserted in the garment by engaging the stud fastener elements I4 thereof with the socket fastener members of the harness 20, and similarly may be readily removed therefrom when it is desired to launder or dryclean the garment I. The reinforced looped end portions 25 of the harness and the free marginal edges l8 of the pads provide readily accessible handle means to be manually gripped when removing the pad. This avoids any pull upon the stitching 2 l and 22 which otherwise might tend to tear the garment I, particularly in the case of ladies shirtwaists and blouses which frequently are made of thin light weight textile material.

The harness 20 ordinarily will not be removed from the garment for laundering and preferably the snap fastener members are of the so-called laundry-proof type, well known in the art and one construction of which is illustrated in the Grifiin Patent No. 2,393,219, dated January 15, 1946.

While I have illustrated and described several preferred embodiments of the invention, I do not intend to be restricted to the precise details thereof as the scope of the invention is best defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A removable shoulder pad construction for garments comprising a plurality of crossed tapes arranged in generally right angled relation adapted to substantially underlie and be secured to a garment along the lines of the shoulder and upper sleeve seams thereof, snap fastener elements secured to said tapes inwardly of the terminal ends thereof and at their intersection with other tapes and serving to secure said tapes together, a separable pad member, and cooperating snap fastener elements on one face of said pad member for detachable locking engagement with the fastener elements on said tapes.

2. A removable shoulder pad construction for garments comprising a pair of crossed tapes disposed in generally right angular form adapted to substantially underlie and be secured to a garment along the lines of the shoulder and upper sleeve seams thereof, snap fastener elements adjacent the terminal ends of said tapes and at the intersections thereof, the latter holding said tapes in assembled relation, a separable pad member and snap fastener elements on said pad for detachable fastening engagement with said tape fasteners.

3. A removable shoulder pad construction for garments comprising a pair of crossed tapes disposed in generally right angular form adapted to substantially underlie and be secured to a garment along the lines of the shoulder and upper sleeve seams thereof, snap fastener elements connected to said tapes and spaced inwardly from the terminal ends thereof and at the intersections thereof, the latter holding said tapes in assembled relation, a separable pad member and snap fastener elements on said pad for detachable fastening engagement with said tape fasteners.

4. A removable shoulder pad construction for garments comprising a pair of crossed tapes disposed in generally right angular form adapted to substantially underlie and be secured to a garment along the lines of the shoulder and upper sleeve seams thereof, the ends of said tapes being looped and secured to the body inwardly of the ends thereof, snap fastener elements passed through the overlapped portions of the tapes and through said tapes at their intersection one with the other, a removable pad, and snap fastener elements on said pad REFERENCES CITED cooperatmg with said tape fastener elements.

5. A removable shoulder pad construction for T following e e ences are 0f record in the garments and the like comprising substantially file O this pa T-shaped attaching means adapted to underlie 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS and be secured to a garment along the shoulder and upper sleeve seams, a plurality of snap fas- Number Name Date tener elements secured to said T-shaped attachv 2,061,435 Neldecker 17, 1936 ing means, a removable pad member, and snap "2313526 3019mm 31, 1946 fastener elements secured to one face of said 10 1 4 9 y 29, 1947 pad in T-shaped arrangement and adapted for 3 1949 interlocking cooperation with the snap fastener elements of said attaching means.

BONNIE M. WEBER. 

